Classroom

In June 2014 we decided to replace the old concrete room at the back of the house. We needed a space in which to host events, that would hold a good sized group of people, be efficient, and built from natural materials. We decided to part fund the build through a crowdfunding campaign, which was successful, and to involve as many people as possible with the build itself.

The construction is a simple one. A timber frame sits on a low foundation wall, protected on the outside by a breather membrane and larch cladding. The frame itself is then insulated with sheep’s wool, and then internally, strawbale provides insulation and internal walls, which are plastered with clay found locally, and painted with home-made clay paints. The floor is larch, sourced locally, and it sits above a thick layer of foamed glass insulation.

The roof is substantial – a deck of sawmill waste planking is covered with a breather membrane, over which sits a layer of straw bales, which are covered with a butyl rubber membrane. Old plastic silage sheet has been added on top to protect the butyl rubber, and finally a layer of old carpet added to give the soil covering something to grip to. The soil itself is around 4 inches or 100mm thick, and has self seeded. We used turf from a huge rock outcrop next to the house on the basis that the things growing there would be tolerant of shallow soil. The roof is edged with larch planking to finish it off.

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Nearly complete

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Clay plastering finished

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Light and airy

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Plastering crew

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Month of mud – a tree takes shape

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Month of mud – day one

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Month of mud day two

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Last cob on the rocket mass heater

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Clay plaster on the stone

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Molly and Brodie mixing cob

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Trimmed strawbale

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The room takes shape

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Sealing bales with clay slip

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Bales in ready for tidying

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The space emerges

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Floor down ready for straw

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Covering the roof with soil

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A protective layer of old carpet

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Panels installed on the roof

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The strawbale insulation goes on

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Straw chain

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Covering the roof

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The waterproof layers

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Breather membrane just in case

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Larch deck

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Enclosed

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It starts to feel solid

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Cladding on and we have a building

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FIddly cladding

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Breather membrane and battens

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Joining the frames

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The largest window

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Taking shape

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Day two

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Day one

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Our raw materials

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